Lightyear, the solar electric car, will go on sale from 2019

A saloon capable of carrying up to four occupants and offering a range of 400 to 800 kilometres on the energy stored in its batteries. So far, nothing new that a modern electric vehicle does not offer. The difference? The Lightyear One does not need to be plugged into any kind of electrical grid to recharge its batteries. It stores energy throughout the day, feeding directly on the energy it captures from the sun.

The Lightyear One is the vehicle that members of the team at the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) developed from the Stella Vie prototype with which they took part in the World Solar Challenge, the most prestigious solar-powered vehicle competition in the world. For 119,000 euros, and upon a deposit of 19,000 euros, Lightyear is already announcing its firm decision to put it into production and sell it in 2020.

The Lightyear One uses to recharge its batteries the electricity it obtains directly from the light and solar radiation captured by the solar cells located on the roof of the car and on various parts of its bodywork. With all the energy that the solar cells can capture over a year, the Lightyear could cover great distances that, in most cases, far exceed the average number of kilometres an individual user drives their car annually. If the user lived in Hawaii, the Lightyear could cover about 20,000 km a year thanks to the hours of daylight and the average intensity of the sun throughout the year.

In Spain, in a city such as Madrid, the solar energy that the car would capture over a year would allow it to cover 17,000 km, a distance slightly higher than the 15,000 km that a driver in our country covers on average each year.

According to the Dutch company’s statement, two versions of the car would be offered depending on the capacity of their batteries and, therefore, the range each would offer, between 400 and 800 kilometres, thanks to the optimisation of the car’s aerodynamics and the reduced weight achieved in its construction. The first ten units of the car, an exclusive and signed version, will be unveiled during 2019, although commercial sales of the model will begin later.

It remains to be seen how Lightyear will handle deliveries to the customers who complete their reservation of the model.